Max Stalling's country-folk style is always more interested in the journey than the destination. A genuine voice - his words are intelligent, simple, even transparent - allowing listeners to see deeper roots and meanings in his songs. The variety of emotions and characters in the stories seem to set a stage, giving listeners plenty of room for their own endings and interpretations.

The youngest of six children, Stalling grew up in Crystal City, Texas, a small farming and ranching community between San Antonio and Laredo. After high school Stalling went to college and earned a master's degree in Food Science from Texas A&M. Stalling took the corporate road to Dallas in 1991, working for Earthgrains Bread and then in product development for snack food giant Frito-Lay. "Back then I would sit and just pretend to write songs," says Stalling. Then, while listening to Dallas community radio station KNON, Max discovered a whole new chapter in his musical life. Townes Van Zandt, Robert Earl Keen, Guy Clark, Lyle Lovett, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Rodney Crowell, Jerry Jeff Walker–singer/songwriters representing a musical heritage that he had been oblivious to. And he discovered the emerging Dallas music scene at the Three Teardrops Tavern, a now defunct, but very central part of the Dallas and North Texas country music scene through the mid-90's. "Tommy Alverson was kind to me. He listened to a tape I made, and it must have worn him out. But he was kind enough to say 'Keep with it' and I'll never forgive him for that," says Stalling with a grin.

Lot's of things have changed for Stalling since he was "pretending" to write songs back in the early 90s. He and Mark Manders have a small record label together, which includes Houston Marchman and Kevin Deal. Stalling has become a well-respected songwriter and performer as is evidenced by the fact Stalling has gotten to open for some of his biggest influences (Robert Earl Keen, Lyle Lovett, Guy Clark, Willis Alan Ramsey). And lastly, he has been a very successful headline act at most of the major music venues across the state of Texas, including Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Billy Bob's in Fort Worth, Schroeder Hall in Victoria, Poor David's Pub in Dallas and Blanco's in Houston.

In February of 2002, Stalling gave up his lucrative corporate position at Frito-Lay. It was a move he had contemplated for a couple of years, and one that really gelled after the events of Sept. 11, 2001. "It gave me a lot of direction. Life is way too short not to pursue the things that are really important to you," says Stalling.

Information from the artist's site

Musicians

• Max Stalling: guitar, lead vocals, vocals

Influences

Robert Earl Keen, Lyle Lovett, Guy Clark, Willis Alan Ramsey

Albums

Favorited by these users:

Beth_McCabe, Catherine Cuellar, ChaCha, Forrest Johnson, Jeff Loy, Kate Colin, Linda Rothstein, Mark Lewis, Mike Orren, Mr. Troll, Rebeckahtx, Suporttxmusic, TXShoeGal, Todd Stein, bghrpr, brettdillon, brooklyn_kid07, celestesal, dbyboth, dheidle, dstarcher, eddiec52, edfoo2000, heatherwoodruff, holly ramsey, ibjoe, jdwhitt, jlayers, narrow, paullywallydoodle, rmarble, robstave, tonybarker

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